Ethiopian National, Tigist Assefa has shattered the women’s marathon world record today, Sunday, September 24 as she won the Berlin Marathon, finishing the course in 2:11:53, a record-breaking two minutes earlier than the previous record.
This is Assefa’s second consecutive Berlin Marathon title, beating Brigid Kosgei’s previous world record set at the 2019 Chicago Marathon, although it is still subject to the usual agreement procedure, according to World Athletics.
This is Assefa’s third competitive marathon so far, after she made the switch from middle-distance running.
The race had started with the leading 12 women all running within the world record pace for much of the opening 15 kilometers.
However, by the halfway point, Assefa was over a minute inside the world record pace and alone at the head of the race, bolting ahead of the field.
She eventually crossed the finish line nearly six minutes ahead of Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui who came second and Tanzania’s Magdalena Shauri who came in third place.
